Pressed by JCP and public pressure, Tokyo assembly will summon ex-Gov. Ishihara over Toyosu market issue

February 8 & 9, 2017

As demanded by the JCP Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Members’ Group, the assembly’s special committee deliberating the Toyosu wholesale market issue on February 7 unanimously decided to summon former Governor Ishihara Shintaro and his aide Hamauzu Takeo, former Vice Governor, as unsworn witnesses.

The committee made one more unanimous decision to summon parties involved in previous underground water surveys to also give unsworn testimonies to the assembly.

In addition to a questioning of all the parties concerned as sworn witnesses, the JCP group has been calling for setting up an investigation commission with a strong mandate to indict anyone giving false testimonies for perjury based on Article 100 of the Local Autonomy Act.

All political parties and groups, except the JCP, in the assembly were initially opposed to the JCP proposal to establish a so-called “Article 100 commission”.

However, documents the JCP obtained through access to official information uncovered a vital fact about the purchase of the former Tokyo Gas plant site in Toyosu. According to the documents, Vice Governor at that time Hamauzu promised to negotiate with Tokyo Gas “behind the scenes” and ordered his subordinates to devise a way to not cause Tokyo Gas shareholders any loss.

Furthermore, benzene at a level 79 times higher than the allowable limit was later found in groundwater at the Toyosu site.

These shocking facts have increased public awareness regarding the issue of the contaminated Toyosu market, eventually forcing the other political groups to agree with the summoning of the two former leaders. To resolve the Toyosu market issue, it is essential to launch an Article 100 commission and summon sworn witnesses.